Dancing Through Life
by kingjonuriaudighfdajkghjfg
Summary: When Mizuki's cousin is sent against her will to St. Blossom, what could happen to Mizuki's love life? SanoxMizuki title subject to change
1. Prologue

**Tera: My very first unpopular fandom fic! Yay! And, for any returning fans, I have...A NEW AUTHOR'S NOTE PARTNER. She doesn't read Hanakimi (yet -cackle-) and she only writes in the Harry Potter fandom, but, here she is! Vive20! **

**Vive20: -Pokes Tera- Writing for a manga wasn't in the job description, but hey! More publicity! ****And how many times have I told you to call me Vive? -Pokes more- **

**Tera: I was just giving everyone your penname...yeesh...**

** Vive: Say... Wh... What happened to your previous A/N Partner?**

**Tera:...-evil gleam- He quit. **

**Vive: O.O Well then... -Jumps around hyper-ly- Do you think the popularity of this fic will pick up?**

**Tera: I hope so! In the meantime, we shall have to settle for reviews from the people we s forced /s asked to read this. Anyway...HERE'S THE PROLOGUE!**

**Prologue**

_Dear Mizuki,_

_Hey there, squirt, how have you been? I've missed your blank, little face! And I know I haven't been keeping in touch like I promised, but everything here's been really hectic. I really do miss you, though._

_And I have some great news (for you, not me)–My parents are sending me to St. Blossom High for a semester! They got the idea from your parents, who suggested sending me to Osaka High, but my parents said that me leaving the country wasn't enough, they didn't want me in a co-ed school. I was pretty peeved and went online to find Osaka's academic achievements and such, but when I looked, I only found out that it was an all-boys school._

_Mizuki, you little liar. Heh. So I had to go along with the whole St. Blossom thing. Let me tell you, it wasn't a pretty picture. I had to brush up on my Japanese, since I really don't have reason to use it here, and my mom and I got into a bunch of fights. _

_Anyway, my plane leaves at the end of July, so I'll be there before start-of-term and you can show me around. Aren't you excited? _

_I'll be glad to see you at least._

_Sorry I have to cut this letter so short, I'm writing it in the back of my friend's truck on the way to the post office. That's why it's so messy._

_I love you, Mizuki, and we'll be together again soon!_

_Love,_

_Gwen_

"You got a letter, Ashiya?" Sano asked, closing the door behind him. He went and sat on the floor next to her.

"Yeah, it's from my cousin," Mizuki replied, smiling slightly and handing it to him. He scanned it.

"So your cousin's coming?"

"Apparently. I don't know if I should write back to her or not. She didn't leave a return address."

"Well, she'll be here in a couple of weeks. I wonder when she wrote that letter?"

Mizuki shrugged and set it in her desk drawer. "I guess we'll find out when she gets here."

* * *

**Tera: Chapter 1 up soon. I felt the prologue should go first, though. Since..you know...Prologues usually begin things...And it seems that Vive is M.I.A. so, here I go...**

**Tera as Vive: Wow, I really LOVED this chapter. Tera is the coolest chick ever. She is just amazing. Yeah. Read and review all her stuff except her Harry Potter stories, her Kenshin fic, and "Melting Ice."**

**Tera: Why thank you, Vive darling. Everyone should read _her_ stuff as well. And review. Because it's amazing. And I should know. Since I'm her beta. **


	2. Chapter 1

**Tera: HEYYY ALL. I realize that, in the last chapter, I neglected to do a disclaimer, so here it is:**

**Disclaimer: Tera only owns Gwen and the plot, no more, no less. The rest belongs to Hisaya Nakajo.**

**Tera: So, I'm not entirely happy with the writing style of this chapter, but it gets the point across and the next ones are better. **

**Vive: I'm sure it's just fine, Tera! It's only the beginning of the story anyways.**

**Tera: See how much cooler she is than Matt? Anyway, ON WITH CHAPTER ONE!**

**Chapter 1**

"I'm looking for Ashiya Mizuki. No, he's not my boyfriend, he's my cousin. Yes, I'm sure." The tall girl at the front desk scowled, wondering if, somehow, her Japanese had gone wrong. "No, I don't have any sort of password, I'm Mizuki's cousin, Gwen Daniels! I've just moved here for a semester at St. Blossom. Yes, I'm a St. Blossom student. No, no, I _still_ want to see–!"

"Gwen!"

The girl who was at the desk, arguing frantically with the man behind it, whirled around.

"Mizuki!" she squealed. "Oh, thank g-d you found me!"

"Gwen!" The two girls ran to each other, squeezing each other as hard as they could.

"Mizuki! It's been so long, I can't believe how much bigger you've gotten!" Gwen gave her another squeeze.

"I know! And your hair's red! Like...cherry red!" Mizuki exclaimed.

"I know! I needed a change. And don't you think red matches my eyes perfectly?" she fluttered her eyelashes prettily over her bright green eyes.

"Mmhmm!"

It was only when he cleared his throat that Mizuki remembered that she and Sano had been walking. Gwen looked up into the dark eyes of an extremely good-looking, dark-haired boy. She immediately held out her hand.

"Hi, I'm Gwen, Mizuki's cousin." Mizuki could have killed herself. She'd forgotten how big a flirt her cousin was and, with Gwen's looks, she had every right to be one. She was tall and slender with curves that Mizuki could only achieve in Nakatsu's wildest dreams. Her eyes were a bright, apple green and her hair, naturally, was brown. She had styled it so that it hung, straight, just below her ears, and dyed it a bright red. Mizuki was rightfully worried.

"I'm Izumi Sano."

Gwen looked as though she was about to say something. Mizuki held her breath.

"Wait. You're Sano?"

"That's what I said."

"_The_ Sano?"

"Uh...?"

"The one who does the high jump!"

"Oh. Yeah."

Gwen squeaked. "I'm so happy Mizuki met you! Wow! This is so great! Wow! Does Shizuki know?"

Mizuki beamed as her cheeks colored. "Yeah, he's been here." Sano was too busy blushing furiously to say anything more.

"Hey, Mizuki, are you allowed off campus?" Gwen asked suddenly.

"Yeah, why?"

"Wanna show me around a bit?"

"Ok! Sano, do you want to come?" Mizuki asked, eyes sparkling. Sano looked away. He couldn't _possibly_ say no if she looked at him like that. She was just too damn _cute_.

"Fine."

"Yay!"

Gwen smiled and grabbed her cousin's hand, lacing her fingers through it. Sano's eyebrows flew up.

"We always used do this in the States. What, is it weird in Japan or something?" Gwen asked, her eyes flashing challengingly. Sano kind of got the feeling that she wasn't soft-hearted enough not to beat on him and he knew he was too soft-hearted to beat back. He thought carefully.

"No, I'm just not used to people having such close family bonds."

Gwen's hard expression melted into an understanding smile. "Yeah, I get it." Mizuki was looking sadly at the ground as she always did when Sano brought up his family. It was at times like these that she appreciated her own.

Not wanting to keep the group feeling downhearted, Mizuki hitched a cheerful smile onto her face and said, "Come on!"

"Coming, Sah!" Gwen said, saluting. She followed Mizuki, still holding her hand, and Sano walked behind them.

"So, what's the most swankified place in town?" Gwen asked, grinning. Mizuki grinned back.

"That would be the Ozdust Ballroom!"

Unfortunately, the very first thing they encountered upon leaving the building was not the Ozdust Ballroom, but a tall, muscular boy with bleached-blonde hair.

"Mizuki!" he shouted, running over and stopping dead as soon as he noticed his love holding the hand of a girl whose sex appeal almost stole his consciousness.

"Hi Nakatsu!" Mizuki said cheerfully.

Nakatsu treated Gwen to an Evil Stare.

"Whose she?"

Sano raised his eyebrows, feigning surprise. "Wait, you mean, no 'get your hands off Mizuki' tackle?" Nakatsu ignored him and kept his stare on Gwen.

"This is my cousin, Gwen!" Mizuki replied, just as cheerfully as before.

Nakatsu's anger vanished.

"Hi! I'm Nakatsu, Mizuki's best friend!"

Gwen gave a little nod. "I'm Gwen. Mizuki's cousin."

"Ashiya!"

They all turned around. Sekime, Noe, and Kayashima were coming towards them, Kayashima the only one not running.

"Ashiya, when did you get a girlfriend?" Sekime demanded.

Gwen clenched her teeth. It was horrible pretending that her cousin was a guy. Mizuki laughed, though.

"This is my cousin, Gwen. Gwen, this is Noe, Sekime, and Kayashima."

"You're dating your cousin?" Sekime asked, horrified.

Even Mizuki stopped smiling. "No, Sekime. We're not dating. We're just cousins."

"Oooh."

"I'm showing her around. I'll see you guys later."

"Kay!"

"I'm gonna stay back here, Ashiya," Sano said.

Mizuki was upset for a minute, but knew Sano was only trying to give her and Gwen some time to themselves. She smiled. "Okay!"

Nakatsu tried to come with them, but Sano shoved him back. "Don't smother Ashiya, Nakatsu." Nakatsu drooped and looked pouty, but stopped trying to follow.

Mizuki turned around and waved and then she and Gwen were out of sight of the boys. She turned to her cousin.

"So, what happened?"

"Eh?" Gwen asked, not bothering to look at Mizuki. She was too absorbed in the landscape.

"I mean, why did your mom send you to St. Blossom? You said in your letter that she wanted you at an all-girls school."

Gwen finally turned to look at her. "Yeah, and lucky she did, or I'd have been enrolled in Osaka. Or, at least, they'd have _tried_ to enroll me in Osaka, found out that it wasn't, in fact, co-ed, and then busted you."

Mizuki was disconcerted for a moment as she imagined the reactions of everyone around her. Then she put it aside and rounded on Gwen again.

"You're avoiding the question. What happened?"

"Nothing, Zuke." Gwen smiled and ruffled her shorter cousin's hair.

"_Gwen_!"

The redhead sighed. "Fine. They found out about some stuff."

Mizuki pushed further. "What stuff?"

"Well, the fact that I haven't been a virgin since I was fifteen, that I happen to really like sex and have had it quite often, and that my boyfriend is 21, and, while I'm seventeen and only four years younger than him, he's 'an adult,' so they're separating us. They also have reason to believe that I like to go out and get drunk."

"Do you?" Mizuki asked, not really knowing what to say to the first bit.

"No. I know what it could do to my body if I haven't completely finished growing. I might have a drink or two, but I've never been drunk. I don't smoke and I don't do drugs. I'm not about all that. But they won't believe me. They sent me to have a drug test, but even when the results said I hadn't done anything, they blamed it on me not doing any for the past week." She looked at me. "If I was _really_ a junkie, I wouldn't be able to go a week without looking like shit or spacing out. They'd have noticed something was up."

Mizuki stared.

"When did you start...you know...all this...stuff?"

"Right after my favorite cousin left for Japan. If they'd told me you were leaving, I might not have gotten so upset. But no one bothered to tell me until you wrote to me. And then, by the time I got over it, I realized how much I liked sex and men." She grinned.

"You mean, it's _my_ fault!" Mizuki squeaked, horrified.

Grinning a completely evil grin, Gwen nodded and said, "Yep."

Mizuki looked like she might cry. "I'm–I'm so sorry, Gwen!"

Gwen's smile grew as she grabbed Mizuki's head, viciously ruffling her hair. "I love flustering you. You're so cute. I was kidding, it definitely _wasn't_ your fault. I know _you'd_ have told me, but my mom didn't and we hadn't been getting along anyway." She shrugged. "It's no big deal, I don't regret any of it."

Just as Mizuki was about to respond, she heard her name being called. She turned around to see Dorm #2's R.A., Minami Nanba, sauntering towards her as he ran a hand through his long hair. Gwen straightened up.

"Hi, Nanba! This is my cousin, Gwen!" Mizuki told him once he had reached them. He was barely even looking at Mizuki.

"Minami Nanba, it's a pleasure to meet you. Please, feel free to call me Minami." He took her hand and, leaning forward, brushed his lips softly against her knuckles. Mizuki raised an eyebrow. This was a different tactic from what he had used with Julia. Maybe he could sense a flirt when he met one. Thinking about it, Mizuki realized, horrified, that they were exactly alike.

Gwen gently pulled her hand out of his, a small smile breaching the edges of her aloof persona. "I might," she said, her voice filled with amusement.

"You could try it at dinner tomorrow night. I know a great place," he tried, straightening up and grinning roguishly.

"I don't think I can make it," she replied carelessly. "Come on, Mizuki, let's get going with this tour." Gwen laced her fingers once more through Mizuki's and they were off, Mizuki stammering out a good bye to Nanba.

"You didn't like Nanba?" Mizuki asked once they had left him.

"Of course I did, dummy," Gwen said, winking. "But I can't let him have the upper hand, now can I?"

Mizuki didn't understand, but she nodded anyway. She needed Julia for matters like these. She just didn't understand her cousin's brain sometimes.

"So, do you know who your roommate is?"

"Yeah, I met her this morning. She's really snobby, told me to keep to my side of the room and stay the hell out of her stuff." The redhead rolled her eyes. "As if I'd go through it."

"What's her name?"

"Sakura Keno." Gwen shuddered. "She has _implants _and wears fake eyelashes _all the time_."

Mizuki giggled. It was great to have Gwen back.

* * *

**Tera: OOOOHHHH. I FORGOT TO MENTION: Gwen, in case it wasn't made clear, is obsessed with Broadway and so, will be using lots of lines from Broadway shows. You get a chapter dedicated to you if you know what show it's from. I'll tell you which lines they are and you guess the show in a review. The first one is frickin' easy, if you've seen -censored-, you should be able to get it by logic._"So, what's the most swankified place in town?" Gwen asked, grinning. Mizuki grinned back._**

_**"That would be the Ozdust Ballroom!"**_

**Guessing time!**

**And here are my Review Responses:**

**Forest E. Halliwell**: ...Thanks, For-chan.

**Animeboy-12: D Thank you very much! I was waiting for my first review to update, so, here it is!**

**Tera: And now, a word from our sponsor.**

**Vive: Oh boy! Er... Who's that?**

**Tera:...You, silly.**

**Vive: O.O Oh! Wow... Erm... -Serious tone- This chapter has been brought to you by Tera McCaslin! Fine chapter maker since Year you started writing here _(Tera: I think it was...err...well...I don't know)_. We encourage you to review and please, enjoy.**


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